Remember last week when I posted this picture which was a hint of a project I was working on?

Well, project is finished!! My wine bottles were tranformed into chalkboard vases. 
And they got double-duty party time as they made their 1st appearance at my daughters
 high-school on Friday at the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon.

I peeled all the labels off my bottles. Some brands labels came off way easy than others. I had
 to use Goo-Gone and a sharp knife to scrape off residue more times than not. You have
 to remove every little bit of adhesive or your chalk will 'skip' across the unsmooth surface. 
  
I looked locally for chalkboard spray paint with no luck. Instead, I bought 6 cans of the $.94 flat
Wal-Mart black spray paint {MUST be FLAT}.

{** little hint--place the bottles somewhat close together when spaying. This way, all of the overspray lands on other bottles and doesn't get wasted}

Use a light hand and spray very thin layers to avoid any drips. It dries super fast. It probably takes 10+ thin coats to get a good surface. {**hint-- hold the bottle up to a light source, if you can see any light through the paint, then keep spraying}

When you are done, get your chalk out and write your message!

Notice my flowers? I wanted to go the cheaper route, so instead of going 'real',  I went 'paper'. I  decided to follow Martha's directions on making tissue flowers that I saw on one of her Valentine
 shows last week. Her segment does a great job of showing you how to make these. So, rather than redo the instructions, if you want to learn how, click here to watch the clip:  http://www.marthastewart.com/article/paper-poppies-and-peonies. In the clip, Levia Cetti is showing Martha how to make these. This talented stylist, florist, and crafter creates and sells her tissue paper flowers on her site The Green Vase. Take a look at some of her work:

Aren't they gorgeous??! You could do so many fabulous things with these lovelies. 

{The Green Vase}

And these are mine:

Saturday night, the bottles were erased {a damp rag does the trick} and used for a Valentines Party at Balsam Mountain Preserve.

I also decided that I wanted some height to the arrangements, so I collected some branches
from the yard and hot-glued little tissue buds and scrapbook paper leaves to the branches.

Use your imagination on what to write/draw on the bottles--they could be used for
 'Happy Birthdays', Christmas parties, Graduations...the possibilities are endless.

Tips and Tricks :
**If you didn't want your bottles to hold flowers, then you could always use taper candles for a whole
different look! I just wouldn't use the 2 together. This could easily lead to burning down your house/ resort.
**To give some nice height variation, I used my 'go-to' tree trunks as levels.
** Actual chalkboard paint would probably take a lot fewer coats than the flat black, but if you are doing
 a bunch, it would be quite a bit more expensive {$.94 verses @$6.50 per can}
**think about using other colors--any flat paint would work!



I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day !

8 years ago I got the sweetest Valentines gift from my then 4-year-old curly-headed Valentine.

   

This wasn't halloween, nope, this little super hero was dressed in costume every. single. day. for years.

He was in a fabulous 'Mothers Morning Out' program at a local church. 



The crafts he brought home, I will cherish forever. But, this one may be my favorite.



This sweet little heart shaped suncatcher.

 He formed a wire strung with little beads into a heart shape and then filled in
the heart with more beads. It was then allowed to fuse together in a warm oven.

 I chose instead to put mine on a necklace.

  

This will be the 9th Valentines Day that little treasure has hung around my proud neck. 



And when I do, I get to remember these wonderful, snaggle-tooth memories....   
  

I saw these cute Valentines 'cards' made out of paint chips in this months Country Living magazine:


{Country Living}

And I decided to take them 1 step further...



A Valentine Coupon Book !



Each color will become 1 coupon. I suggest using 3-4 cards per coupon pack. I cut off the lightest
color on each strip.

 

This provides the 'I heart u' to fit perfectly. 
{and do you notice that the color names on the strip are gone?? simply use an eraser and you can
take them right off! I only did this on the covers}

I then ran each card through the sewing machine with a threadless needle and bobbin.
My setting was at 2.5. This provided a perforation that allowed each coupon to be torn off easily.



Then write your coupon message on each color.



Then to create the cover, I used a sharpie to write I and U.
 Then I used a paintbrush dipped in glue to make a heart and I shook on black glitter
 {I love Marthas fine glitters} I then sewed the chips together on the left side--
this time using thread and increasing the stitch length to 3.5.



There are stamps you could use if you don't want to freehand it. 

For extra sturdy, I used teeny tiny brads that I got from Michaels {$1.79}



I simply placed the stack on a scrap piece of fabric and with the point of a super sharp knife,
I made little puncture holes through the cards. Then I slipped 2 brads in the holes. 



These are for my kids, not the hubbs ;)
 

If you follow this blog, you know that a few weeks ago we lost our very beloved Chihuahua.
 My neighbor ran to our house to tell me that Peter had been hit by a car. I tried desperately to
breathe into his little nose to keep him alive. But, after a few minutes, his little heart stopped
 beating while I held him against my own broken one.

We also have an 11 year old Lab, Buddy, and a 5 year old Corgi, Max. They all loved each other. 
 
There are so many ways people deal with grief--who's to say what is the right way to 'get over the
hurt'. I only knew what was right for our family, We needed another Chihuahua. Max needed another
 best friend.  

So { because I have the best husband in the world} we drove 7 hours, round trip, this weekend
to meet the newest member of our family. 



Meet Beau, the new 6th member of our family and my Valentines present. Pretty cute, right? 

Only one problem....when we got to the breeders house, Beau wasn't the only puppy there.

Beau's sister, Bella, was also there.....Bella was very attached to her brother. She also was
 in need of a family to love. sigh....

{lest you forgot, let me remind you: I have the best husband in the world}

        Meet Bella. The 7th member of our family.



We had absolutely no intention of bringing home 2 puppies....



And Maris and Jack don't love them at all.